Several years ago I sat in on a presentation from a well-known digital agency detailing a new vehicle shopper online strategy. Throughout the presentation the agency used a litany of war references like “arming the new car shopper”or “prepare online to do battle at the dealership”. As I listened it occurred to me their shopper “battle”strategy was going in the wrong direction. It was increasing the divisiveness between shopper and dealer,and not resolving the stress,tension,and distrust in the shopping process.
Another new vehicle shopper story comes from my days working at Organic on the Chrysler business. Chrysler fielded an ethnographic study on the new vehicle shopping experience. There were many valuable insights,but the one that resonated with me the most was about a research subject named Phil. Phil was ane online researcher and self-professed dealerphobe. He summed up his shopping experience as follows:
I spend a lot of time online researching my purchase. Online I am in control. I can research my vehicle anywhere I want. However,the minute I walk through the dealership doors I feel I lose control.
Car shopping has always been contentious. However,the internet has amplified the distrust by increasing the information available to the shopper. For example,on a lighter note,I think Cars.com captures this tension well in their current series of commercials (i.e. Glondoor Stone Circle). Of course Cars.com answer is to go into the dealer prepared (via Cars.com),AND have a back-up plan using some bully,enforcer,or witch doctor.
With the recent attention swirling around Detroit,many pundits,politicians,and bloggers expressed their opinion on how to solve the Detroit problem. Seth Godin expressed his viewpoint in a recent blog titled What to do about Detroit. In his post he painted an interesting vision that starts by using bankruptcy to wipe out the existing dealer network and then:
We’d end up with a rational number of “car stores”in every city that sold lots of brands. We’d have super cheap cars and super efficient cars and super weird cars. There’d be an orgy of innovation,and from that,a whole new energy and approach would evolve.
I believe there is a core idea in Seth’s blog entry. The core benefit of a multi-manufacturer showroom is it allows new car shoppers a single shopping showroom and (hopefully) relieves the sales pressure. I am thinking Seth’s idea is akin to a Best Buy’s or Lowe’s shopping experience. The shopping experience would move from a singular brand store to an information store,and emphasize consultancy not commission. So how do we reinvent a shopping process to make it less contentious and more consultative?
I am currently leading a think tank at Team Detroit:Wunderman to reinvent the shopping experience for the Ford Motor Company. Not a new initiative. Not an easy initiative. But it is one that is long overdue. Our approach is a shopper-centric approach. It is not limited to one experiential channel (e.g. dealership,online). The strategic foundation is in the identifying core shopper types. For example,JD Power classified new vehicle shoppers into five segments like Dealerphobes,Auto Enthusiasts,Time Sensitive,Empowered Negotiator,and Price Sensitive.
The goal of the strategy is to design new vehicle shopper experiences rooted in the shopper types,transcending channels,and develop a “win-win”scenario between Ford and its shoppers. As we build the strategy over the upcoming months,I am seeking suggestions,ideas,and constructive input to how you would see the future new vehicle shopping experience.
